


Infinity

by TheLastoftheLoveSongs



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-06-29 06:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15724068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastoftheLoveSongs/pseuds/TheLastoftheLoveSongs
Summary: Well, so this takes place somewhere in the MCU I guess, not including some of the more recent ones? I’m not sure what I will count and what I won’t quite yet, but none of us likes how Infinity War went, so I’m just gonna throw away that bit and make my own, as we all tend to do. I also am not ignoring the others from the TV shows (at least from the ones that I keep up with anyway) because we all know Coulson would have defeated Thanos easily.All the Infinity Stones have been located except for one, and as people across the universe are making sure the known Stones are protected, they are also trying to find the missing one.An almost-agent of SHIELD is called in to help with a project, but when a mission goes wrong, JV has to go out to help. JV is injured badly, and while trying to save him, it is discovered that he isn’t what he seems to be. In order to find out who he really is, JV must travel across the universe, but he can’t avoid his entanglement with the upcoming war as Thanos and his armies grow stronger.“Born of fire, made of ice, the protector of all holds the power eternal.”





	1. Chapter 1

SHIELD Director Phil Coulson talked with agents Melinda May and Daisy Johnson in his office.

“This document needs to be seen by as few people as possible,” Coulson said.

“But you need it translated for ten different people,” Daisy said.

“Yes, and we need someone to translate it for them, preferably one person.”

“Is there one person who knows eleven languages?”

Coulson nodded.

“Coulson, no,” May interjected before he could continue speaking.

“What?” Daisy asked, looking between the two as they silently pass looks. “Is there a problem? Is there not a person who can do it?”

“There is,” Coulson continued as May shook her head. “The problem with him is that-”

“He’s not an agent,” May finished, giving Coulson a pointed look. “So we can’t trust him.”

“We _can_ trust him,” Coulson argued.

“Who is he?” Daisy asked, stepping forward to get their attention.

“JV,” Coulson answered, sitting on the edge of the desk. “He trained for a couple years, though never finished with signing on. But he’s a master of linguistics.”

“Does he really know that many languages well enough to translate the entire document?”

“He knows more than just eleven,” May said. “He knew those eleven when he left, so I’m sure he’s learned more by now.”

“How old was he when he was here?”

“Fifteen.”

“And you are telling me about him because…?”

“Because we need you to get him for us,” Coulson said.

“Do you know where he is?”

“We’re working on that, but as soon as we know, we’re sending you out.”

Daisy nodded, but then said, “I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.”

May shook her head. “He’s going to take a lot of convincing to come here. He didn’t leave on good terms and he’s been hiding from us ever since.”

“What happened?”

“He was almost going to be an agent. But he wanted secrets, and we couldn’t let him sign on without all his information, so he left.”

“What information was he withholding?”

“Medical.”

“Did he ever say why?”

“He just said he wasn’t comfortable with sharing it. Of course we wanted to respect that, but that left us with giving him the option of staying and providing it, or leaving.”

“So, do you think he was hiding something?”

“Oh, without a doubt,” Coulson said. “We have him on a watch list, but as low priority, but since we now need him, JV’s been moved to the top of the list, and we should have a location by tonight.”

 

*****

 

Daisy left that night, spending the night on the plane and then heading to the farm the next morning, thinking over what Coulson warned her about.

_“JV is a master of escape. He fears capture, so do your best to have him come willingly, and only use force if absolutely necessary. We need him within three days to make sure we get him started on the project in time.”_

Daisy parked by the office of the center, hoping that three days will be enough time. Only one the last day was she to tell him who she really was and use whatever force she needed to bring him in. But if he was trained seven years ago, he shouldn’t be much of a problem now, should he?

“How may I help you?” The woman at the desk asked Daisy as she walked into the office.

“Hi, I’m looking for one of your employees,” Daisy said. “He’s a friend of mine, his name’s JV.”

“You’d have to check out in the barns and ask around.”

Daisy heads out glancing around at the horse pastures as she entered the nearest barn, stopping one of the stable hands, asking if she knew where JV was.

“I think he’s out right now,” She said, and then called to another worker, “Hey, Danny! Is JV out?”

“Yeah, he’s on Eclipse right now, but he should be in soon,” Danny answered.

“Eclipse’s stall is in barn two, so you can wait there for him. They’re just out on a exercise run.”

Daisy thanked the woman and headed to where she pointed. She wandered around for about fifteen minutes before a young man rode in on a black and white Paint. He dismounted and led Eclipse into the barn, setting her in cross ties as he removed her tack.

 “Hello,” Daisy said as she approached him. “You’re JV, right?”

“I am,” JV answered, stepping around her to carry the tack away, returning with a grooming kit.

“I’m thinking about boarding my horse here, and I hear you’re one of the best riders here.”

“Okay.” JV doesn’t give her his full attention as he brushes sweat and hair off of Eclipse’s back.

“Would you mind if I talked with you for a bit about the place and what you do with the horses?” She flinches back when Eclipse snorts and shakes her head.

JV noticed this and asked, “How long have you had your horse?”

“Not long. He used to belong to my mother, but she passed away, so I’ve been left to take care of him. I’m not much of a horse person myself.”

“I can tell.” He ducks under the horse’s neck to brush the other side.

“Are you free sometime soon?”

JV calls out to another employee, speaking to him in Spanish before telling Daisy, “Once I’m done with Eclipse, I have about an hour before I’m needed again.”

JV finished combing Eclipse’s mane, and then returns her to her stall before leading Daisy out to a picnic table under some trees where they sit to talk.

“I’m Hailey, by the way,” She shakes JV’s hand.

“What questions do you have about the farm?” JV asked.

“Uh, well, I’m not sure what to ask, you know, since I’ve never owned a horse before.”

JV nodded. “Okay, well, we’ve got plenty of space here, a stall for each horse, plus enough pasture space so none of them feel crowded. We have arenas on site, as well as lots of fields and woods in the surrounding area full of trails we can take the horses on. There’s no hunting in these woods, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Is one person assigned to the horse or do you switch it up?”

“We switch around. As far as a schedule for exercise and feeding, you would need to talk to one of the trainers if you don’t already have something set.”

“Sounds good.” Daisy nodded. “Did I hear you speaking Spanish earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Is being bilingual a requirement of working here?”

“No, but it’s helpful at times. Not all the boarders speak English.”

“Do you know any other languages?”

“A couple others.”

“Are you self-taught?”

“For the most part, yeah.” JV watches a couple people ride past out towards the woods.

“Did you think about working in that field?”

“What field? Languages?”

Daisy nodded.

JV shrugged. “I guess I just couldn’t find a place that worked for me.”

“Oh? But did you try that career at some point?”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t give them everything that they wanted.”

“What were they asking for? If you don’t mind me asking about it.” Daisy waved away a fly.

JV shook his head. “It was just some personal stuff. If they really wanted me, they would have taken me without it, but, as I’m sure you know, SHIELD doesn’t like secrets unless they’re their own.”

Daisy sat up straight. “You know I’m with SHIELD?”

JV rolled his eyes as he shook his head and stood up.

“When did you know?”

“In the barn.” He started to walk back towards the barn.

“What gave me away?” Daisy followed him.

“The boarders never get information about the farm from the workers. They do not care about the workers, they only care about their horse, so they won’t be asking about the other skills we might have, because if it has nothing to do with riding, they don’t want to know.” JV turned to walk backwards as he told her, “Besides, I can recognize SHIELD-issued equipment anywhere. And maybe try a disguise next time, Quake.” He turned back around and disappeared into the barn.


	2. Chapter 2

Daisy sat in her hotel room during the afternoon, on a video call with Coulson to report their first impression.

“He had me made within minutes,” She told him. “Apparently he saw my tech.”

Coulson nodded. “I’m not surprised. Is there anything else he told you?”

“No, but now I’m worried that he won’t let me talk to him again.”

“Your best chance now would be to be completely honest with him, no more lies about why you’re there, otherwise he’ll just ghost us again. Make sure his terms are clear and just try to be his friend.”

Coulson disconnected and Daisy sighed. She found a place to get lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon working on other things before heading back to the stables when everyone was getting off. JV saw her and walked over to her car.

“What do you want?” He asked as she stepped out.

“We need to talk,” She told him. “But not here.”

“And not tonight. I’m tired. Go tell Phil I said goodbye.”

JV walked away to where someone was waiting for him in a car and they drove off. The next morning, Daisy showed up to the barn only to find out JV was gone.

“He left not too long ago,” Marcy at the desk said. “Said he had a family emergency and had to go back home, and probably wouldn’t be back.” She shook her head. “It’s a shame, he’s really good with the animals.”

“Did he say where he was going?” Daisy asked.

“No, just back to wherever he’s from.”

Daisy thanked the woman and left, calling her team on the plane to search for where he went as she headed back to her hotel to gather her things, but upon opening the door, she saw JV sitting on the bed.

“Is Phil too busy to do the recruiting himself?” JV asked.

“Yeah, Coulson’s really busy now that he’s director,” Daisy said, sitting on the other bed. “We need your help.”

“I’m not an agent, I can’t help you.”

“Coulson still trusts you. We need you to translate a document into ten languages.”

“SHIELD has plenty of people and software that can do that.”

“We can’t have it going across any machine, and we need as few eyes on it as possible.”

“If it was that confidential, you wouldn’t be asking an outsider for help.”

“Like I said, Coulson trusts you.”

“Maybe, but I don’t trust SHIELD.”

“Why not?”

“Do you trust SHIELD completely? Blindly?”

Daisy waited a moment to think, but JV spoke before she could.

“My answer is no.” He stood up. “If that’s not clear enough for you, I can say it twenty other ways until you understand.”

Daisy followed JV as he walked down the hall. “You’re not even going to consider helping us?”

“Nein.”

“You don’t have to stay.” She matched his stride. “You just come, translate, and leave.”

“First of all,” He stopped at the door. “Are they planning to pay me? Living here isn’t exactly free. Second of all, it’s not a simple this-word-means-that and you’re good to go. Non, I have to translate it to, say, Latin, checking over and over that it is correct, and then I have to translate it back to make sure that it does still makes sense and was translated correctly. It’s not a simple, short task. It’s not a small favor that you’re asking of me.”

He pulled on the door, but Daisy pushed it shut. “You were on your way to being an agent, why do you suddenly hate SHIELD?”

“Maybe because I’m sick of being betrayed.”

He pulled open the door and walked out, with Daisy following close behind.

“Look, JV, you don’t have the option. Either you come willingly, or I have to bring you in by force.”

“Then let Phil come begging.”

 Daisy huffed as JV started walking away, and she called over the coms to her backup that they were going to have to do this the hard way, and that they should move in. JV stopped when he saw the other agents and turned around to glare at Daisy.

“I will not come willingly,” He warned.

Daisy approached him, but as soon as she was within reach, he grabbed her and flung her into a car windshield, and then took off running. Daisy quickly got up and chased after him with the other agents following close behind. JV dashed across the street and through the parking lot, dodging around cars to make it impossible for anyone to fire at him, but that made his pace slower, so Daisy gained some distance on him. At the end of the parking lot, he jumped the wire fence and ran out towards the highway.

“Stop him before he gets across!” Daisy called out.

On the other side of the highway were pastures and woods, which would give JV plenty of cover. They fired their ICERs at him, but missed as he slid down into the ditch between the roads. Horns blared at them as they had to wait for an opening between the speeding cars. Just as they ran across, JV also was sprinting across the other side, so they ran after him. An ICER skimmed his arm, but it didn’t slow him down at all, as he leap over the pasture fence, sending the cattle herd running away as he made his way to the woods.

Another round of ICERs were fired just before JV made it to the tree line, but they all missed again. Daisy tried to quake him, but JV managed to dodge behind a tree and got away. They could just barely make out the dark red of his jacket well enough to follow him, but Daisy knew that she wasn’t gaining any ground on him, so instead she stopped and quaked the area in front of her, knocking down many of the trees, including JV, who shouted as he fell. Daisy jogged up to where JV struggled to move a large limb off of himself, and she crouched down next to him.

“JV,” She said. “If you don’t come with me now, there will only be more people coming after you, and you can’t outrun all of SHIELD.”

JV responded by grabbing a branch and hitting Daisy across the face with it, knocking her back as he wiggled free. Just as he made it to the standing trees, an agent hit him with an ICER and JV stumbled, but didn’t go down as they expected him to. Daisy quickly went after him, and because of the ICER, his pace was slower, and he only made it out of the woods just before Daisy did. She quaked him again and this time he stayed down on his knees.

“JV,” She said again. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

He shook his head. “That’s what they said last time.”

The other agents gathered around him, ready in case he tried running again. JV’s gaze was unfocused, almost as if his mind was somewhere else.

“Just come with us,” Daisy said. “We only need your help for a little bit.”

JV suddenly moved, crawling backwards. “No, no, please, not again.” He moved until he hit another agent, and then he jumped up, backing away still. Daisy told the others to stand down as she stepped up to JV, who shook his head as if trying to clear it and blinked rapidly, looking at them in fear. Daisy reached out to JV to grab his hand to try to calm him down, but as soon as she touched him, JV dropped down to his knees, cowering below her as he said, “Okay, okay, I’ll do whatever you ask, okay. I will. Just don’t do it again. Please.”

Daisy told the others to call the plane to their location, and then turned her attention back to JV, who was swaying where he knelt, on the verge of consciousness.

“I thought you were SHIELD,” JV whispered.

“We are,” Daisy said.

“Then why are you taking orders from him?”

Daisy didn’t respond, confused by what JV said, and then the plane landed in the field, and all but two of the agents filed on. The two walked over to Daisy, asking if she was ready.

“JV,” She said to him, “It’s time to go.”

“Nein, bitte,” He mumbled.

The agents grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet, but JV had more fight than they expected, and he ripped free, but before he could get anywhere, he was shot with another ICER, this time falling unconscious to the ground.

On the plane, Daisy called Coulson to let him know that they were on their way back, expressing her concern for JV.

“I’m not sure what it was, but it seemed as though he wasn’t there,” She explained. “He was suddenly afraid, and seemed to be talking to someone who wasn’t me.”

“That is strange,” Coulson agreed. “We’ll check him over when he gets here. You didn’t corner him, did you?”

“No, but it did take two ICERs to get him down.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, just under the one was when he went all weird on me. It must have messed with his mind.”

“Let’s hope he’s awake by the time you get here, otherwise when he does wake up, it might be a bit of a mess if he reacts negatively.”

“I’ll keep you updated.”

After ending the call, Daisy went to check on JV, who lay on the floor, a blanket under his head. She worried that because of the two ICERs, he would take longer to wake up. As they arrived at the SHIELD base, Coulson was waiting in the bay for them, and Daisy let him know that JV was still out.

“Hm, well, that makes things a little more difficult,” Coulson said. “We don’t want him waking up and being frightened right away.” He thought for a moment. “I guess just take him to medical, and leave him on a table there, nothing around him, no people, no machines, nothing.”

“Yes, sir.”

JV was put on a gurney and taken away.

“Coulson,” Daisy said as they walked. “If you don’t mind me asking, but why does it seem like JV is so special?”

“Because he is,” Coulson said simply. “We worked hard to convince him to join SHIELD, Agent Hill and I personally went to him to talk with him, multiple times, because of the talent that he has, makes him invaluable. Once he was here, he showed how much more he could be besides a translator. He was on his way to being one of the best agents we’d ever have.”

“The best as in, like May?”

“The best as in, like Romanoff, Barton, or even Fury if he worked for it.”


	3. Chapter 3

JV was alone when he woke up, and Coulson had not had the chance to tell anyone else about him, so there was confusion all around when he got up. JV quietly got off the table, sneaking around the room to the door, and once the doctors weren’t looking, he slipped out into the hall. JV was still woozy from the ICERs, so he stayed along the wall for support. He thought he heard someone call his name behind him, so he turned to look, but as he turned back around, he walked right into Mack, and almost fell down.

“Whoa, hey, sorry about that,” Mack caught him and steadied him on his feet.

JV thanked Mack and continued walking until Mack called out to him again.

“Wait a minute.” Mack stepped in front of JV. “Who are you? Aren’t you a bit young for an agent?”

“Uh, no,” JV answered, glancing back in case anyone was coming to find him.

Mack noticed JV’s nervous state. “Are you lost?”

“Kind of,” JV said. “I’m trying to get to the hanger.” He tried to step around Mack.

“Why do you need to get there?” Mack remained in JV’s path. “Are you meeting someone?”

“I just need to go.”

“JV!”

They both turned towards the voice that called his name, and Mack quickly grabbed JV’s arm to keep him from running. “Nice try.”

But JV twisted his arm free and took off running, with Mack close behind him. JV dodged around people in the hall, trying to figure out where he was going, and then he was suddenly hit and knocked onto his back. JV groaned and coughed, looking up at May standing above him.

“Leaving without saying goodbye again?” She asked.

JV pushed himself to his feet, taking a stance as he faced May. Everyone else stepped back as May also took on an aggressive stance.

“Have you learned not to run yet?” May asked him.

“Nihil,” He answered.

“What about all your training? Did you forget it?”

“Why don’t you find out?”

JV waited for May to move first, and as soon as she stepped in closer, he grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the wall, meaning to let her go, but she held on and dragged him with her. JV immediately pushed off the wall and kicked out at May, who jumped back to avoid the hit.

“Your style hasn’t changed,” She told JV.

As she struck out at JV, he spun away, stepping in to land a punch in May’s side before leaping back before she could retaliate. May stood, waiting for JV to move in, but he made no move, so instead she stalked around him, and he stayed still, moving only his eyes to follow her.

“How many times do I have to tell you to not let your enemy get behind you?” She asked.

May rushed at JV from behind, but he ducked down just in time, securing a grip on her as he flipped her down onto the ground. He twisted her arm behind her back until she was laying on her stomach and he straddled her, securing her other arm as well.

“You made it too easy,” He told her.

“Oh, so you want me to put effort in?”

“I want you to let me go.”

“Sorry, Jay, we can’t do that,” Coulson said as he stepped out of the crowd.

JV huffed and rolled his eyes before letting May go. People cleared out and went on their way, leaving JV to follow Coulson to his office. Daisy was waiting for them as the two entered with May and Mack.

Coulson leaned against his desk and asked JV, “Is there anything you want to say?”

“I don’t think I can express my distaste for this situation in any language,” He retorted.

“Okay, so will you help us?”

“Now that I’m here, yeah. Are there not any other agents that can do the job?”

“None that we know of, and we don’t have the time to search. We brought you in because you are the best option.” Coulson stood up straight. “By the way, a more formal introduction for you, this is Daisy and Mack. Mack, this is JV, he’s our master of linguistics here at SHIELD.”

JV rolled his eyes as Mack nodded and said, “So he’s the one working on that document?”

 “Yes, Jay, we should get you debriefed so you can get started on that.”

The three left JV and Coulson, and as they walked away, Daisy asked May, “You knew JV when he was training here?”

May nodded. “He’s one of the best students, always wanting to be challenged. But we never quite broke his habit of running.”

“What do you mean by that?” Mack asked.

“He always looks for his way out in a fight, his main goal is always to get away instead of finishing it.”

“Was he afraid to lose?”

“He was afraid of being caught. Coulson mentioned this to you, Daisy, but JV fears capture, there’s a name for the phobia, but there’s no good way to train someone out of a fear like that.”

“Did Coulson tell you about what happened with JV and the ICERs?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, and I think I know what was going on, come with me.” May led them to a monitor where she pulled up street camera footage, and explained what it was. “After JV left, he went dark for a while, but he showed up once in Germany.” She played the video that showed JV running down the street until he tripped just as something slashed down his back, and he wasn’t able to get back up before people were on him.

“Are those SHIELD agents?” Mack asked and May nodded.

Then another person entered the field, and the bow he held told them quickly that it was Hawkeye. There was no sound, but JV could be seen shouting as he fought against the agents until Hawkeye knocked him unconscious.

“This was the same time that Loki was in Germany, shortly before he attacked New York,” May told them. “What I think happened with JV earlier was a post traumatic hallucination about when Loki had him.”

“The translating isn’t the only reason why you wanted to get him here, is it?” Daisy asked.

May shook her head. “We were just waiting for another reason to hopefully bring him in on his own will, but that obviously didn’t work out. We’re hoping we can tap into his subconscious to see if there’s anything he remembers about when he was there, anything about other plans of Loki’s. Now I’m not so sure if he’d be mentally or emotionally able to do it.”

“Why his subconscious?” Mack asked.

“Because Loki had everyone under some kind of mind control, so he wouldn’t be able to remember it on his own.” May closed out of the computer. “But we won’t worry about that until after he’s done working, and by then he should be more content with being here. In the meantime, you should try to befriend him. JV’s a good friend to have, especially in a fight. The only time he doesn’t run is when someone else can’t.”

*****

More and more often throughout his time there, JV would join someone else for something to do, helping out in various areas to keep himself busy. When he finally finished with his work on the document, there came the question of what he was going to do next. JV had settled in well with the others, and most of them forgot that he wasn’t an agent.

Then one night, the group was relaxing after a long day, and Daisy asked JV, “Hey, so you were taken by Loki, weren’t you?”

JV gave her a confused look. “Uh, yeah, I was. Why do you ask?”

“What was Loki like?”

“I don’t really know.”

“Oh, is it because you were under that mind control thing?”

“Uh, no, I wasn’t ever put under that. But I never met Loki while I was there.”

May and Coulson had picked up their conversation and made their way over and May asked, “Why didn’t he put you under?”

JV shrugged. “How am I supposed to know?” He then muttered, “It probably would have been better if I had been.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’d rather not think about it.”

“Jasper,” Coulson said. “What did they do to you when you were there?”

He closed his eyes as he said quietly, “Anything they needed to do.”

“They tortured you?” Coulson clarified and JV nodded, keeping his eyes down.

“Wait,” Simmons said to Coulson and then asked JV, “Do you want to tell us what happened?”

JV looked up at her. “I- I don’t know. I don’t know if I can.” His breathing rate had already begun to increase.

“Okay, that’s fine. Take your time, and share when you can.”

He nodded, and then he looked over at May and asked her, “Why didn’t you come?”

“What do you mean?” May asked.

“You knew they had me and others, why didn’t you come for us?”

“We tried, but we didn’t know where you were.”

“How long did you try?”

“We searched everywhere.”

“Until when?” His voice grew harsh. “Once Loki left you stopped? You thought that everything was fine once he was gone?”

“He didn’t let you go?”

“No. I was left there for weeks, locked in, trapped. You left me there.” JV stood up and headed for the door.

“Jay-” May stood up as he did.

“I need time.”

He quickly walked out, and May and Coulson shared a sorrowful look.


	4. Chapter 4

No one was sure where JV had gone, only that he returned the next day and kept to himself. The next day he agreed to talk with them again and the group gathered in the lounge.

“I’m sorry,” JV started off, glancing up at May. “You didn’t know. You couldn’t know. I just-” He looked down. “I was just so scared.”

“I’m sorry too,” May said. “You’re right, we shouldn’t have stopped looking.”

After a moment of silence, JV took a breath and looked up at Coulson and nodded, saying that he was ready and Coulson asked, “Do you have any idea if Loki had any other plans for Earth or anything else?”

“No, I was kept in the same room the whole time, I only ever saw the same five people.”

“What did they want from you?”

“Information about SHIELD, about their locations, plans, people, that kind of stuff.”

“And they tortured you to get it?”

JV nodded silently, rubbing his hands together in discomfort. “It never stopped. Because there was nothing I could tell them. I hadn’t been a part of SHIELD for at least a year at that point, so I couldn’t answer their questions. They… they didn’t believe me.”

“What did they do?” May asked.

JV squeezed his eyes shut and no one pressed him to talk, giving him the time he needed. When he spoke, it was in a terrified whisper. “There were chains. I couldn’t move.” His breathing grew more rapid. “They-” He tried to take deeper breaths. “My back, f-from the arrow. They kept it open.”

“How?”

“Tools,” He shook his head harshly, “and chemicals. I can’t breathe.”

JV quickly got to his feet, gasping for air, on the verge of a panic attack. Simmons and May went to him when he stumbled to the wall to lean on it, both of them talking quietly to him until he was able to relax.

As she sat back down, Simmons asked JV, “Did your back heal alright?”

“I guess so,” JV said, his voice still shaky as he paced back and forth behind the couch.

“Is it safe to assume that it left a scar?”

JV nodded.

“Can we see it? Or maybe just me?”

He hesitated, but then stopped and turned around, pulling his shirt up to reveal a scar on his back that reached from his right shoulder down to his left hip. Simmons got up to take a closer look until JV shivered slightly and let his shirt fall back down.

“I’m gonna go lay down,” JV told the group and left.

Once they were sure he was gone, they began talking with each other.

“He’s lucky that healed so well,” Simmons said.

“I think he’s an Inhuman,” Daisy said.

“What makes you say that?” Coulson asked.

“He didn’t want to share medical information, he healed from torture surprisingly well, they had to keep him there with chains, and it took two ICERs to take him down. It makes sense that he’s somehow enhanced.”

“He was 16 when he left us before, that’s too young for terrigenesis, isn’t it?”

Daisy shook her head. “Some people go through it younger for some reason or other, just look at Robin.”

“Shouldn’t he know by now that there’s no reason for him to keep hiding?” Rodriguez asked. “He knows you and I are Inhuman, and he’s met others and seen our work with protecting them.”

“Gaining his trust is a very gradual process,” May said. “He might be waiting until he’s sure before telling us.”

“You agree with Daisy?” Coulson asked May.

May nodded. “It does line up.”

*****

A few days later, JV and Daisy were talking while eating lunch, and JV asked her, “Where is everyone?”

“There’s a mission going on,” Daisy told him. “They found a base for the Watch Dogs, so they’re gonna take it down.”

“Why are you not with them?”

“The Watch Dogs target Inhumans, so they thought it would be safer for me to stay back unless they need back up. Speaking of Inhumans, are you one?” She decided to just ask him outright instead of trying to trick him into it.

“Am I an Inhuman?” JV clarified.

“Yeah, you know, a human with powers.”

“I know, and no, I’m not an Inhuman. Why do you ask?”

Daisy was cut off by the sound of an alarm, and they both quickly ran out into the hallway. Someone stopped to inform them that the mission called for emergency backup, calling for as many agents as available because they underestimated the number of Watch Dogs at the base. Daisy started to rush towards the hanger, but glanced back and realized that JV wasn’t following her, and instead he was watching everyone go past.

“Jasper!” She called. “Come on!”

He walked over to her. “But I’m not an agent.”

“We need you to be.”

Daisy turned to run again, and this time JV followed her onto a plane that took them to the Watch Dog base, quickly dropping them off and then going somewhere nearby to wait to pick them up again. An agent from the original group met them and told them what was going on.

“We’ve got a lot of men down, and there’s a good number being held hostage inside,” He said.

“Hostage? So are they asking for something for their return?” Daisy asked.

“They want an exchange. Those agents for our Inhumans.”

She nodded, and then someone started organizing and giving orders. Daisy then told JV to follow her and they slipped away from the rest.

“We don’t have time for that,” She told him. “We just need to get in and get them out. We can let them worry about finishing the original mission of the base take down.”

They managed to sneak into a central building, slipping past many Watch Dogs until they found the center room, seeing a large stack of crates on one side of the room, most likely with weapons in them, and a group of about 20 agents tied up on the other side of the room. May and Coulson were among those agents, though Coulson appeared to be unconscious. The only open door was the one that the two crouched in, which was partially behind the boxes and on the opposite side of the room from the agents.

Daisy started whispering ways that they could try to sneak in or distract the enemy, but JV wasn’t listening to her. He thought he heard something in the hallway and was trying to figure out if it was people, but he wasn’t able to warn Daisy before they were spotted and had guns aimed at their heads. They were directed to go into the large room, one of them announcing their presence to the apparent leader, Carrick.

Carrick grinned. “Here’s one of the freaks.” He roughly grabbed Daisy and tied her hands behind her back with handcuffs that stopped her powers, pushing her down with the other agents, and then he turned to JV. “Who the hell are you? You don’t like an agent. Are you an Inhuman too?”

JV didn’t answer, instead he remained uninterested in Carrick, looking around the room until Carrick grabbed his hair, telling him to pay attention.

“We can test you,” He threatened. “Or you could just admit to having powers.”

“He’s not even an agent,” May told him. “Just let him go.”

“What’s he doing here then? Surely there was a reason for him.”

JV started speaking in German, talking about nothing in particular, but just talking to annoy the Watch Dogs, which worked too well. After telling JV to shut up a couple times, Carrick finally used the butt of his gun to hit JV in the back of the head, knocking him down to the ground with a yelp.

“Maybe now you’ll keep quiet.” He pulled out a knife as he said, “And this will keep you still,” and then he stabbed the dagger into JV’s calf.

JV shouted in pain, pulling his leg up, one hand still on his head and the other now gripping his leg. As Carrick turned to talk to the other Watch Dogs, JV carefully touched at the knife, sitting up to try to look at it better. He winced with every touch, finally shaking his head and sitting still, instead just holding his leg off the ground.

“Let’s just take care of this one,” Carrick said, half to his own men and half to the agents. “We’ll kill her, let a couple agents go, and then wait for them to send the rest of their Inhumans.”

JV looked between the Watch Dogs and Daisy, and May, recognizing the look in his eyes, warned, “Jasper, don’t.”

He didn’t listen. As soon as two of the eight Watch Dogs approached Daisy, he acted. JV pulled the knife out of his leg as he jumped at the two, and he didn’t stop there. He snatched a gun from a Watch Dog and dodged bullets as he went after the rest. Carrick ordered his men to take care of JV as he ducked out. The Watch Dogs underestimated JV, and weren’t prepared to fight harder against him. Alternating between the knife and the gun, JV took down all of the men, but his calf was bleeding profusely, and along with new injuries from the fight, he fell down after the last man. But one of them that had only been knocked down and not killed got back up and he began running towards the door, so JV scrambled for the knife that he had dropped and he got back up, throwing the knife and killing the runner before he could call for help.

JV collapsed again, wincing any time there was pressure on his leg. He tried to get back to his feet, but he was dizzy from blood loss, and he fell down once more, this time unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

May was finally able to get her hands on one of the dropped weapons and broke free of her binds, and she released Daisy before rushing to JV. Daisy helped a couple other agents get free before she joined May. May told Daisy to hold up JV’s leg and put pressure of the wound until she was able to tie a rope around his leg above the injury to try to slow the bleeding.

“An artery must’ve been severed for it to be bleeding like this,” May said.

The other agents were able to wake Coulson up, giving him a quick explanation as to what had happened.

“Forget about the mission,” Coulson said. “Let’s get him out of here.”

Coulson and May each took one of JV’s arms over their shoulders and they carried him out. Daisy led the way, calling for a plane to come get them. On the plane, they did their best to stop the bleeding, though they knew he needed better medical attention. JV was in and out of consciousness throughout the flight, sometimes moaning in pain, but being otherwise unresponsive. When they were almost back to the base, JV suddenly woke up, gasping momentarily confused as to where he was. Daisy quickly consoled him, and he calmed down, mumbling, “Flower, d-” but he fell asleep again before he could finish.

Confused by what JV had said, Daisy looked to Coulson, who couldn’t help but laugh a little before he explained, “He’s given you a nickname.”

Daisy smiled for a moment, but frowned when she looked down at JV again. “He’s so pale.”

“He hasn’t stopped bleeding,” May said. “Which means I think we’ll have to go against his wishes. I don’t think he’ll survive if we don’t give him blood.”

Upon arrival, May took Simmons aside and explained to her to give JV blood, saying that she should be the only one to know what the results are. Simmons did as May said, but after a short while, she called the team together.

“Is something wrong?” Coulson asked.

“Um, well, I don’t know if I would say it’s something wrong, but…” Simmons trailed off.

“JV’s an Inhuman,” Rodriguez said. “Isn’t he?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Is it something with the blood results?” May asked, double checking that the door was closed.

Simmons nodded. “They came back inconclusive.”

“Inconclusive?”

“There was no match.”

“So what does that mean?” Mack asked. “Does he have a new blood type that we’ve never seen before?”

“Are you sure something else wasn’t causing a problem?” Fitz asked.

Simmons shook her head. “I double checked everything.”

“So what do you think the results mean?”

She hesitated before quietly saying, “I think it means that JV is an alien.” When no one responded, she added, “It would explain everything about him.”

After another moment of silence, Coulson said, “We have to tell him we know.”

“Why can’t we just pretend that we don’t know?” Daisy asked.

“We don’t want to risk accidentally letting it slip sometime,” May said. “Besides, it’s only fair to him.”

*****

After JV was out of surgery, he was moved to his room to continue sleeping off the anesthesia. When he woke up the next morning, May made sure that JV ate something and was feeling okay before asking him to join her in Coulson’s office where the rest of the team was already waiting. JV hesitated for a moment upon seeing all the people in the room before limping to a chair with a confused expression.

“JV,” Coulson began. “Please understand that we didn’t think we had any other choice.”

JV glanced around the room, shifting himself in the chair, but remaining silent.

Coulson continued, “As I’m sure May already told you, you had a severed artery in your leg, and you were losing a lot of blood. We didn’t think you were going to make it if you weren’t given a transfusion.”

“We thought you were going to die,” May said when JV shook his head and stood up. “Your life is more important than a secret.”

JV paced to the shelves, pretending to be interested in the books, and Daisy asked, “Why would you not tell us? Why would you lie about what you are?”

“Did you tell them right away?” JV asked her, and when she shook her head, he asked, “Why not?”

Daisy just shook her head again, knowing her answer wouldn’t help their case.

JV faced them again, leaning on a table to help keep his balance. “You were afraid of their fear. They don’t understand, and so they’re afraid. When they’re afraid, they think you’re dangerous, so they want to lock you away until they aren’t afraid, until they have control.”

“Then help us understand,” Coulson said. “Can you at least tell us what you are?”

JV looked away again, shaking his head. “No, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know the answer. I grew up on Earth, I was raised by humans.”

“Did your parents know?”

“No. No one has ever known.” JV walked to the door.

“Have you been searching for answers?” May asked.

“For years.” JV stopped in from of the door. “But I don’t think I can find them on Earth.”

“Jay,”  May waited until he looked at her. “Do what you need to. If you decide to come back, we’ll gladly take you. But at least come visit.

“I will.” JV gave her a small smile and then left.

JV wandered for some time, trying to figure out where to go next, and decided to head to New York City. Once he was sure there were no cameras or people around him, he let out his wings.

The wings were feathered and black, the span reaching 20 feet. He stretched them out and then plucked a loose one, breaking it apart so no one would find a whole feather that was too large to belong to a bird.

He leapt up and flew into the air, quickly flying high into the sky so no one could tell that he wasn’t merely a large bird. Upon reaching the city, JV dove down quickly, landing on the roof of a building and looking around, and then diving again to land in an alley before putting away his wings and walking out onto the street to figure out that he was in Queens. JV remembered that there was a new superhero that worked in Queens, so he decided to try to find him to see what he was like.

*****

Peter Parker once again told Aunt May that he was going to spend the night with Ned and left the apartment. He headed down the street towards Ned’s home, but once out of sight of his apartment, he ducked into an alley and quickly changed into his suit. He made his way around the streets, helping out here and there, but overall it was slow night, and he grew bored of searching and instead decided to try testing some new things.

Peter was swinging around the buildings until he had this feeling that he was being watched. He sat on the side of a building and looked around, though didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Continuing on his way, Peter still had the uneasy feeling and decided to stop and look around again, this time standing on the top of the building to get a better range, and that’s when he spotted something.

“That’s a really big bird,” Peter said to himself. “That’s… too big to be a bird.”

He quickly took off after the winged creature, but didn’t get close enough before it disappeared into the night.

“Karen, I need you to call Mr. Stark.”

“It is 1:30 in the morning, Mr. Stark will be asleep,” Karen told him.

“Call him anyway, it’s important.”

After a moment of silence, Stark finally answered, saying, “You better have a good reason for waking me up.”

“He’s back, Mr. Stark.”

“Who’s back?”

“The Vulture guy.” Peter paced the rooftop. “He’s back.”

Stark sighed. “It’s not him, we took care of him, remember?”

“No, I know, but I saw the wings, it has to be him.”

“It’s late, it’s dark, it was just a bird. Go to bed.”

“Wait-” Peter huffed when Stark hung up. “I know what I saw, and that wasn’t a bird.”


	6. Chapter 6

In the morning, Pepper asked Stark what the phone call he got last night was about.

“It was just Peter,” Stark shook his head. “He was going on about seeing someone who isn’t out there.”

“And you’re not going to try to see if maybe he was right?” Pepper asked.

“No, I know we have him locked up, the kid was just seeing things in the dark because he’s always looking for what’s not there.”

Pepper just nodded, and then answered the ringing phone, handing it to Stark after finding out who it was.

“Stark, this is Agent Hill.”

Stark tried to hand the phone back to Pepper, but she quickly stepped out of the room before he could get rid of it.

“Stark?”

“Yes, how may I help you?” He faked concern.

“You can cut the crap,” Hill told him.

“Good, ‘cause I didn’t want to try keeping up the act. Is something wrong?”

“No, there’s an agent out and about that we want you to keep an eye out for.”

“Are they, like, a rogue agent?”

“Not exactly, but he’s – I don’t know a better way to say this but – he’s a bit lost about himself.”

Stark sighed and rolled his head back on the chair. “I’m not going to help someone climb a mountain to find out who they are.”

“Are you alone?” Hill ignored his comment.

“Yeah, why?”

“His name’s JV, he-”

“Wait, that sounds familiar.” Stark sat up. “Isn’t that the guy you and Coulson tried to recruit into SHIELD?”

“Yes, so he’s not quite an agent, but anyway-”

“I thought he died.”

“He didn’t. They brought him back into SHIELD and found out that he’s an alien.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“JV isn’t human.”

“Well, what is he? Asgardian?”

“He’s not sure, which is why you should try to find him. We’ll send you a picture of him, but he’s got brown skin, black hair, and bright green eyes.”

“And why do we care about what he is?”

“He might know something about Loki and his plans. JV claims he knows nothing, but he may be lying.”

“Why do I have the feeling that there’s something you’re not telling me?”

“What makes you think there’s something else?”

“SHIELD doesn’t just hunt someone down for no reason.

“JV might know something about Loki, as I already told you.”

“Yeah, I got that, but there’s something else, isn’t there?”

Hill sighed. “Bring him in, and then you can find out.”

“Why didn’t you question him when you had him there?”

“We didn’t think about these other questions until after he had already left.”

“And you can’t send other agents after him because…?”

“He knows SHIELD, he won’t fall for it.”

“Hm, okay, and where is JV?”

“We believe he headed to New York.”

“Any tips on how to find him and bring him in?”

“Apparently he wants to get off Earth, so maybe make a deal with him. Good luck.”

After hanging up, Stark told Friday, “Start scanning cameras for JV as soon as you get that picture from Hill.”

*****

“You really saw him?” Ned asked Peter as they sat in Ned’s room.

“I think I did,” Peter said. “But I’m not sure, because I know there’s no way he’s out.”

“Then what did you see?”

“I just saw the wings as they flew away. It was dark and I didn’t get very close.”

“What if it’s Birdman?”

“What?”

“Yeah, where they were bitten by a bird instead of a spider.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“But it’s possible.”

Peter shook his head. “I guess.” Then his phone rang with Stark calling him. “Hello?”

“Hey, kid, you’re not busy this weekend, right?” Stark asked.

“Uh, no, not really, why?”

“Good, I’ve got a job for you.”

“For me, Peter, or Spiderman?”

“Hopefully just Peter, but if it gets to it, you can suit up. Come to the Tower as soon as you can.”

As soon as the call ended, Ned asked excitedly, “Are you going to do Avengers stuff?”

“I think so.” Peter gathered his things. “I’ll tell you about it later. See ya’!”

*****

Peter got to the Avengers Tower as fast as he could, taking a moment to slow his breathing before going in by Stark.

“Peter, wonderful,” Stark greeted him.

“Hey, uh, so is this gonna be like a mission?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. We gotta find someone.”

“Who is it? A wanted criminal?”

“No, he’s a SHIELD agent.” Stark began leading the way down the hall.

“Why are we looking for an agent?” Peter followed at his side.

“You’re not cleared for that information. Just know that this is what he looks like,” Stark showed him a picture, “and we gotta bring him in.”

“And you want me to just go walking around looking for him?”

“No, Friday’s located people who might be this guy, whose name is JV by the way.”

“Sir,” Friday said. “I’ve narrowed it down to one person.”

“Perfect.”

Stark set one of his suits on standby and made sure that Peter was wearing his under his clothes.

“Is JV dangerous?” Peter asked as they drove to Central Park.

“Potentially,” Stark answered.

“How dangerous?”

“His skills are in line with the top agents of SHIELD.”

They pulled up to the park and followed the GPS to where specifically JV was supposed to be. JV was sitting on a bench, surrounded by pigeons that pecked around for food on the ground or sat contently on the bench next to him. He appeared to be asleep, but as soon as they were close enough to scare the birds away, he opened his eyes to look at them.

“Hey, you’re JV, yes?” Stark asked.

JV nodded silently.

“Can I sit?” He motioned to the bench.

“I didn’t think Tony Stark would even care to ask first,” JV muttered as he sat up to leave room.

Stark waved away pigeons as he sat down and asked, “Should I assume that you know why I’m here?”

“Because you think I’m a danger to the public.”

“Anyone could be a danger to the public, even Peter could be.”

JV looked at Peter for the first time, and Peter got a strange feeling, the same feeling from last night.

“Then why not just leave me alone?” JV asked, looking back at Stark.

“We want to help you. You need to get off of Earth, right? How do you plan to do that?” When JV shook his head, Stark continued, “Come with us, and help us help you.”

“How are you going to help?”

“We’ll call Thor, and he can bring you to Asgard with him.”

JV leaned back into the bench. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“Yes, of course there is,” Stark stood up. “But I’m just the messenger for Fury. If you want to know what he wants, you’re gonna have to talk to him yourself.”

 JV gently pushed the remaining birds off his shoulders and stood up as well. “What will you do if I say no?”

“I don’t think you have the option.”

“So are you here to convince me or capture me?”

“Preferably convince. I don’t want to play that game.”

“Okay,” JV agreed. “When do we leave?”

“Right now.”


	7. Chapter 7

At the Avengers Tower, Peter called Aunt May to tell her that Stark had a trip for him to go on as part of the internship, and that he would be back in a few days. On the flight to the helicarrier, Stark stayed at the controls as Peter and JV sat in the back.

“I’ve never met an alien before,” Peter told JV. “How long have you been on Earth?”

“All my life,” JV answered.

“But you weren’t born here?”

“No, I don’t know where I was born.”

“Did you ever know your parents?”

“No.”

“So when you get off Earth you’re going to try to find them?”

“Probably. That would be the base to knowing what I am.”

“Well, you look human, so maybe you’re Asgardian, like Thor,” Peter offered. “Or do you not naturally look like this?”

“No, this is only half of what I usually look like.”

“Can you show me how you look?”

“No.”

“Are you stronger than humans? Faster, smarter?”

“Yes.”

“How has no one noticed that about you before?”

“Same as you, I only put half effort into most things so I don’t use my full strength.”

“Cool.”

“Hold on,” Stark called from the front. “We’re landing.”

Leaving the plane, Stark led the two to the control center, constantly trying to remind Peter to not touch anything. Fury and Hill were talking as they walked in, but quickly turned to the new arrivals.

“Welcome back, Jay,” Hill greeted.

“The infamous JV,” Fury said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Why is it that we haven’t met?”

“I’m not an agent,” JV said. “So you had no reason to.”

“Ah, that’s right. You like your secrets. That worked out well, didn’t it?”

“Maybe we wouldn’t have a problem if you would’ve just left me alone.”

Fury just nodded and turned to Peter, who was leaning on the railing to look at everything below. “Mr. Parker.”

“Oh, hi,” Peter quickly stood up straight. “Yes, I’m Peter.”

“Enjoying the view?” Fury motioned out the windows.

“Uh, yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

“Good, because you get to stay here while we go talk.”

“Oh, okay.”

Fury nodded to JV, who followed with Hill trailing him. Stark stopped and told Peter, “Don’t get into trouble, but stay alert. I don’t know what they want from JV, but I feel like he’s not going to like it.”

They entered an empty lab, and Hill closed the door as JV sat on one of the stools. Everyone else remained standing.

“If I wanted to take over Earth, I would have done that by now,” JV muttered.

“Our concern isn’t about you,” Fury said. “It’s about Loki.”

“As I had already told the others, I never met Loki while he had me, I don’t know anything.”

“Why did he want you?”

“Why don’t you ask Hawk?”

“Barton was under the Stone, you weren’t.”

“He actually spoke to Loki, I didn’t,” JV countered, leaning on his arm on the desk next to him. “What makes you think I would know something?”

“Loki wanted to know things about SHIELD, or so you say.”

“I remember _very clearly_ what questions they asked.”

“He had however many active agents already working for him who could answer all those questions, and they all knew that you are not an agent.”

“So?”

“So, there must have been some other reason who Loki wanted you there.”

“Probably for the same reason you want me, to translate.”

“Did you do any translating for him?” Hill asked.

“No, not yet anyway.”

“What do you mean ‘not yet?’”

“Why torture you with questions they knew you couldn’t answer?” Fury asked as well.

“Torture me into submission so I’ll serve “willingly” once he has control of Earth,” JV said.

“Is that what he said he’d do?”

“No, I’m just guessing. What makes you think he’d share with me what his plans were?”

“Did he ever try to put you under the Mind Stone?”

“I don’t know!” JV huffed. “I wasn’t conscious when I got there.”

Fury thought for a moment. “Was Barton always with you?”

“No, he hunted me down, brought me in, and then I never saw him again.”

“But why not wait?” Fury seemed to ask himself more than JV. “If he didn’t need you until after he won the planet, then why get you so early? Why torture you instead of just putting you under the Stone?”

“Why don’t you find Loki and ask him yourself?” JV shook his head.

“We’d like to, but we don’t know where he is.”

“Well, that’s not my problem.”

“Oh course it is. Take a look at this.”

Hill took this as her cue and she turned to one of the glass screens, turning it on and going through files until a video pulled up. Stark moved to stand behind JV so he could see the video as it played. There was no sound and the images were grainy, but they could still clearly tell what was going on.

_JV had trouble holding on to consciousness. His fear and pain prevented him from being able to clearly see or hear what was going on. He was supported mostly by the men holding him and he was half dragged along._

_Barton glanced back at JV and reminded the men to keep him awake. At the end of the hall, they entered a room where Loki was waiting._

_“This is the man you were telling me about?” Loki asked._

_Barton nodded._

_Loki stepped up to JV. “What are you hiding?” He peered at JV for a moment. Something was different about this man. Looking back at Barton, he said, “We’ll work on him later.” Loki then took the scepter and touched it to JV’s chest, but nothing happened. He tried a few more times, but it still didn’t work, instead blood simply dripped from where the point of the scepter had broken the skin._

_“Is there something wrong?” Barton asked._

_Loki looked silently at JV for a moment, then shook his head. “Just take him and figure out what secrets he has.”_

JV shifted uncomfortably upon seeing the video, and Fury asked, “So you have no memory of this?”

JV shook his head.

“Why didn’t the Stone work on you?” Fury stood in front of JV. “Is it because you’re not human?”

“I don’t think species has anything to do with it,” JV said.

Before any more questions could be asked, Peter was knocking on the door, and Hill let him in and asked him why he was here.

“They sent me to find you,” Peter said. “They said they found the Hulk.”


	8. Chapter 8

JV tried to stay behind, but Fury demanded that he go along to try to bring Doctor Banner back in, and they all traveled to the Hulk’s location.

“So what’s your plan?” Stark asked Fury.

“Try to keep him calm, and get him back to himself,” Fury said. “And if worse comes to worse, we just fly him out of here and away from people.”

They made their way out of the small town and to the mountains that it bordered. Banner was supposed to be somewhere among the rocks, hiding away from anyone who came near. Most of the other agents were to stay back, to be used as a barrier to direct Hulk back towards the mountains and away from the city if he ran that way.

“Let’s hope he’s not hard to find,” Hill muttered as the small group headed into the forest.

An overhead plane detected heat and motion, sending the information down to Fury to show them where to go, which was at the area where the trees switched to rocks. As they approached the point, they spread out, sticking in pairs as they scanned the area. JV was paired with Peter, who wasn’t hard to keep an eye on, as his red suit stood out against the green of the trees and the tan and grey of the rocks.

“Hey, uh, do you have a code name?” Peter asked JV.

“Not really, just choose what you want to call me, JV, Jay, or Jasper.”

“What about V?”

“Sure.”

 Peter nodded, wanting to ask about what the V stood for, but knowing that if JV wanted to share it, he would have.

“Have you been out on a mission like this before?” Peter asked.

“Only a couple for real.” Recognizing Peter’s nervousness, JV answered his questions patiently. “Otherwise they were all for training.”

“Okay, cool, cool. I, uh, I haven’t done much team work. I mostly have been alone, that is until Mr. Stark found me.”

Just as the two were about to step around a large boulder, JV suddenly grabbed Peter and pulled him back, pressing against the rock. They glanced around the rock to see Hulk slowly walking along. As they tried to silently move more out of sight, Peter slipped on some loose rocks that went tumbling down. Hulk snorted and came to investigate the sound.

“Move,” JV said and led Peter down a couple meters to a few trees. “Up.”

They both climbed into a tree, settling against the trunk as silently as they could, hoping there were enough leaves and branches to prevent them from being seen. The Hulk stopped near the trees, looking around for a minute before huffing and returning to the rocks.

“Ragno,” JV whispered, “call in our location.”

Once back on the ground, Peter did as JV said, and soon everyone else had moved in, and Stark was the first one to approach. Upon seeing Stark, Hulk stopped, eyeing him silently.

“Hey, Banner,” Stark said. “I know you’re in there. It’s time to come back now.”

The rest of the people stayed hidden as Stark talked with Hulk, that is until there was a roar and Stark shouted as he was thrown over the rocks and hit a couple of agents.

“That’s not good,” Peter said and pulled his mask on.

The Hulk came running after Stark again, now finding all the agents waiting for him, and the ambush angered him more, so he went after the agents, scattering them.

“Keep him away from the city!” Fury called out just before ducking out of the way as a large rock was thrown at him.

“Let’s go,” JV said, and grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him along as they chased Hulk down the mountain.

They weren’t far behind, and as they reached a clearing, Peter snagged Hulk’s leg with a web and looped it around a tree, tripping Hulk and sending him crashing down. Hulk stopped and got up, looking for who had attacked him, though the two had hid behind the trees. Just as Hulk was about to begin rushing towards where the attack came from, Stark swooped down in his suit and knocked Hulk onto his back.

Over the coms, Hill called out for everyone to drive Hulk towards the open fields where the planes were waiting. Stark was thrown away again, and Hulk followed after to finish taking him down. JV and Peter quickly chased after, still ahead of the rest of the agents, who were trying to go around to create a barrier.

“Shouldn’t we go around to help them with a wall?” Peter asked.

JV shook his head. “We need to give him something to chase.”

Hulk broke out of the trees at the base of the mountain and the agents waiting below began firing to ward him off, hoping that he would try to get away from them and turn towards the open space, but instead it did the opposite. Angered by another ambush, Hulk ran at the line and the agents scattered to avoid being hit. Stark shot him down to the ground and Peter quickly tried to get webbing around him to pin his arms down, but Hulk broke through it faster than Peter could apply it. Just as Hulk’s fist was about to smash down on Peter, JV pulled him out of the way and Stark attacked from the other side to draw his attention away.

“That’s right, this way, come and get me,” Stark taunted.

Hulk swung out at the agents around, but JV then stepped in and blocked the hit, and, not expecting it, Hulk was knocked off balance. The agents backed away as Hulk stood facing JV and roared at his new match. Before Hulk to move again, Peter webbed his face, and then JV jumped forward and punched Hulk in the jaw so he fell back. Stark again fired at Hulk to get his attention as he pulled off the webs. JV tried to get distance between them, but Hulk saw him and grabbed him, slamming him into the ground and then throwing him towards the town, and then chasing after JV still.

“No, no, stop him!” Stark shouted.

The agents could do nothing as Hulk charged ahead. Peter tripped Hulk, but he got up almost as quickly as he had gone down. He now took Peter and threw him away, and Peter landed even closer to the city. Stark flew to Peter to make sure he was okay, and JV got up rushed over to them as well.

“Stark, we need to fly him out,” Fury called.

Stark called down another piece of tech, and it latched onto the Hulk, beginning to drag him backwards until it pulled him off the ground. But before it got far, Hulk broke it, and he crashed back down, once again going after the three. Stark swore and pulled Peter to his feet, shouting at JV to move, but JV stayed where he was, looking curiously at the Hulk.

“Jay, let’s go!”

Stark flew up out of the way with Peter just before the Hulk reached them. JV was slammed into the ground, but he quickly rolled away before he could get hit again. People of the town shouted as they ran from their homes. Hulk then swung a fist at JV, but JV ducked under it and then thrust his hand into Hulk’s chest and then a surge of energy knocked them both down and even sent Stark falling to the ground as well.

Fury and Hill shared a glance and took off running to the site, searching around through the dust for anyone. They coughed as they looked around, and they spotted Peter and Stark as the dust began to settle.

“What was that?” Fury asked them as they helped them up.

“It was JV,” Peter said.

They looked around until Hill spotted JV, who coughed as he pushed himself up. Hill jogged over to him and he leaned on her as he cleared his throat and shook his head.

Fury walked over and asked, “What in the hell was that?”

JV looked up at Fury and then out across the field and said, “I didn’t think that would actually work.”

“What did you do?” Hill asked.

“Hey, look!” Peter called, pointing out to where JV was looking.

Just now waking up, Banner pushed himself to his feet, but stumbled over and fell, though got up again and everyone went to him.

“What is going on?” Banner asked, accepting the jacket Fury gave him. “Where are we? How am I back? How am I me?” He shook his head. “I thought I’d be stuck like that forever.”

Everyone looked back at JV, who said nothing.

“Who is that?” Banner asked.

“That’s JV,” Stark said. “He’s the one who brought you back.”

“Really? How?”

“I…” JV glanced around and breathed out slowly before saying, “I took it away.”

“You took what away?” Banner asked.

“Your sense of the Hulk.”


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone regrouped at the planes after making sure everyone in the town was okay. Stark filled Banner in on what he missed, and once they were done with that, Fury demanded that JV explain himself.

“You can’t just say explain,” JV said. “What do you want me to explain?”

“Do you have powers?” Fury asked.

“Yes.”

“Why did you not tell us before?”

“You never asked.”

“Are those powers related to what you are?”

“I don’t think so.”

“What exactly did you mean by you ‘took away the Hulk?’ What are your powers?”

“I can take away senses.”

JV received strange looks from everyone and Stark asked, “What do you mean by senses?”

“You know, like sight and touch and self.”

“And you can just make someone go blind?”

“For about an hour, yes. I have to touch them for it to work.”

“Wait, what’s the sense of self?” Peter asked.

“Your consciousness,” JV answered. “It’s your sense of yourself in your environment.”

“So explain what happened with Banner,” Hill said.

“I, well,” JV sighed. “It’s hard to explain, but I could see that the Hulk was kind of like a sense within him. At least I hoped that what it was.”

“So, after an hour I’m going to turn back into the Hulk?” Banner asked.

“Um, I don’t know. I’ve never worked with something like this before. It might just be that after it has worn off, you will just then have the ability to be the Hulk again. For now you just can’t do it.”

“So we now have about 45 minutes to wait.”

“I can give it back sooner. The hour is just how long it takes to wear off on its own.”

“Would you be able to take it away again in case he does become the Hulk?” Hill asked.

JV nodded. “It should be better this time.”

“Better?”

“Yeah, I put a lot of effort into it the first time because I didn’t know if it would be harder to do, but I think I can do it with less power.”

Banner nodded. “I’d be willing to try it.”

They walked out of the plane, and Banner nodded to JV, who pressed his hand to Banner’s chest. Banner stepped back when he felt it, but otherwise did nothing else and he looked up at JV excitedly.

“It worked!” He said. “I can- I can feel that the Hulk’s there, but I’m still me.”

*****

Upon returning to New York, Peter went back home, and JV went with Stark and Banner to the Tower.

“When are you returning the favor and getting me off Earth?” JV asked Stark.

“Calm down, Junior Varsity,” Stark said. “Thor doesn’t exactly have a cell phone for us to just call him. Banner and I will work on figuring out a way to contact him.”

“Wait, why does he need Thor?” Banner asked.

“He’s an alien.”

“Oh,” Banner nodded. “What, uh, kind? Asgardian?”

“I don’t know,” JV said. “Which is why I need to get off Earth.”

“Okay, and Tony, do you know when everyone’s getting here?”

Stark stopped and faced Banner. “What do you mean? Who’s coming?”

“Fury didn’t tell you? He’s sending other Avengers to join us.”

“Join us how? What is anyone else going to do to find Thor?”

“No, to join us on travelling with JV.”

“Why would we go with him?”

“Fury probably still wants to recruit me,” JV muttered, shaking his head. “I don’t know if I will be coming back to Earth.”

“No, he probably just wants to know what ties you to Loki,” Stark said, continuing to walk down the stairs to his workshop.

Stark and Banner got to work while JV took on a nap in the corner. It was a half hour before Pepper called Stark to let him know that the others had arrived, so she was sending them to him, and a couple minutes later, Vision, Wanda, Romanoff, Barton, Wilson, and Rogers walked in. After greetings were passed around, Stark made sure everyone knew why they were there.

“JV?” Barton asked. “You mean the kid that’s insanely good at languages?”

Stark nodded. “You know him?”

“Kind of. Once he was done training to be an agent, they were planning to send him to train to be a spy even, so he was supposed to do some trials with Natasha and I. They had high hopes for him.”

“Is there anything else special about him that we should know? Besides the alien and powers things.”

“Um, I don’t think so. As you know, he’s gifted with linguistics, he ambidextrous, he can mimic anyone’s voice perfectly, he learns quickly in areas besides languages if he puts effort into it, uh, yeah, I don’t know any other notable points.”

“So he’s just perfect spy material,” Wilson said. “Is there anything negative about him?”

“He’s color blind,” Natasha said. “And he’s not much of a fighter unless given no other choice. He always tries to run first.”

“Why would Fury send so many of us along for this?” Vision asked. “Why not one or two to accompany?”

“Since Loki is involved, we’re not taking any chances,” Natasha said.

“If all we need to know is what he is, wouldn’t we be able to tell that by looking into his head?” Wanda asked.

“Maybe,” Rogers nodded. “Let’s ask him if he wants to try it.”

Barton walked over to where JV was still sleeping and gently shook him awake, but when JV saw Barton in front of him, he panicked, scrambling to crawl backwards away from Barton for a moment before seeming to realize something and he got to his feet. JV paced away, tugging on his hair as he took deep breaths to calm down.

“What the hell just happened?” Wilson whispered to Stark, who shrugged.

“Jay, you good?” Stark asked.

“Yeah, I just…” JV took a breath. “I’m fine.” He walked back over to the group. “Did you need something?”

“We have a new idea for figuring out what you are,” Banner said. “Wanda could look into your mind to see if it’s there.”

“You think the answer is somewhere in my mind?” JV clarified.

Wanda nodded. “There might be a memory somewhere of your parents.”

“I, uh, I don’t know if I’d be comfortable with that,” JV said.

“Wait,” Stark said. “Would you even be able to do it?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Wanda asked.

“When Loki tried to use the Mind Stone on him, it didn’t work. The Mind Stone,” He pointed at Vision’s head, “is what gave you your powers, right? So if the Stone didn’t work, why would your powers work?”

“It’s worth a try, right?” Wilson asked, and everyone looked to JV, who sighed.

“Okay, let’s try it,” He said.

Wanda first tried to lift him off the ground, and when she was successful, she then stepped up to him and flicked her hand over his head, but nothing happened, the red mist just disappeared without affecting him.

“I can’t see anything,” She said. “It’s almost as if something is blocking me.”

“Are you trying to resist?” Rogers asked JV.

JV shook his head. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Well, back to plan A then.” Stark clapped his hands together.

As everyone settled in various places around the lab while Stark and Banner worked together, Barton asked JV, “Wait, Stark said that Loki had you at one point, right? Had he kidnapped you when he was on Earth a few years back?”

“Um, well, yes, he had me kidnapped,” JV said.

“But he’s not the one who actually got you, is he?”

“Clint,” Romanoff warned as JV shook his head.

“What did I do?” Barton ignored Romanoff. “I know catching you wouldn’t have been easy.”

“You don’t need to do this to yourself,” Romanoff said.

“I want to know.” He looked to JV. “Please.”

 JV hesitated, then he turned around and pulled his shirt up to reveal the scar on his back, and he grimaced at the sounds everyone made upon seeing it and then let his shirt fall back down.

“That doesn’t look like just from an arrow,” Romanoff pointed out.

“No. They used the wound to question me,” JV told them.

“I-” Barton shook his head. “JV, I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t you, I know.”

“But I still did it.”


End file.
